Single player games may have entered a perceived decline since their heydays, as increasingly long, costly development times have drawn developers towards experiences that are more easily... monetized. This is typically done by cutting experiences into DLC pieces and adding always-on, recurring ways of recouping developer (or publishers') investment. There's no need in beating around the bush - we all know what these experiences look like, in one way, or another. Though it's true that these may not always have the intended effect, as users and the industry as a whole have been recoiling from particularly aggressive renditions of these monetization practices, which in turn, may lead companies to face considerable losses, be these monetary or in the much less liquid good will.

Square Enix is one of the companies that has excelled in the making of first player games, for one. however, for one reason or another, these may not have translated as the successful commercial releases that the company hoped (thinking of you, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided). As a result, the company has reportedly put the Deus Ex franchise on ice, but has recently made some tentative remarks on how they might bring it back. However, Square Enix themselves have put fears into gamers and fans' minds with their renewed interest in games as a service. which, according to Square Enix President & CEO Yosuke Matsuda, may not mean exactly what we've been told it means.When asked about games as a service, the Square Enix CEO talked about how these can be actual DLC releases that add value to the overall package - much like the company has done with its Episodes for Final Fantasy XV, or the DLC packages it had for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (which didn't do it as well) or its predecessor, Human Revolution:

"Games as a service has a very wide meaning, it can mean a lot of things! [laughs] Recently people have been discussing loot boxes and people not using that properly, I think that's all linked to this bad perception people have to the words 'games as a service'. But really, the way we're looking at it, what it boils down to is… that idea of keeping people engaged with our games and enjoying them for longer periods of time. That's the way we really look at the problem. The way we use that expression, really… the whole idea, for a single player game particularly, is the idea that you have the game released and you keep adding more content to keep the players engaged and enjoying the game. And that helps to make it more of a full experience, and that brings in more players to the original game. That's the rough approach we take to the idea, and that's why we described games as a service in that sense."And he also addressed loot boxes, saying that there is certainly a way to implement them, but in a non-intrusive way:

"It is obviously very bad to have loot boxes that get in the way of the player experience, or detract from it in some way. That's clearly not a good thing. You have to really think about what they do to add to the overall gameplay experience, and how they fit in with that and the overall design of the game. I think that's the way we should look at these things."

And finally, the CEO reinforced his company's commitment to single-layer games and good single player experiences, above all, no matter which platform is the target: and talked about how this in itself may be one of the ways to increase return on investment for single player games:

"We will definitely be making more single player games, definitely. I think the environment now, that we have, there's even more platforms, there's even more opportunities to get single player games out to people. So, for example, mobile phone games, we're not just making free-to-play games for that, we're making proper single player games, re-releases of old titles, new titles as well. So mobile phones don't just have to be about that kind of thing. The Switch is another great platform to come out for single player games, so we've got a lot of opportunities and we really do want to continue making single player games".

There's certainly hope and space for single player games and experiences in today's market, and a way for them to be hugely successful commercially: just look at how CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt still managed to be one of thetop ten highest grossing games on Steam, nearly three years after its release, and without any new added content for over a year. Add to this the way that Microsoft is looking to subsidize development of single player games through its "Games as a Subscription Service" with Xbox Game Pass, which can add yet another source fo revenue for developers and publishers, and the future isn't quite so dark as it may seem. At least, we all hope it isn't.